Chapter 57: Li Lijuan Robs Things (Part 1)

Li Lijuan stammered, “I… I just came to beg for some food. Grandma, could you give me a little?”

“What’s wrong with you, young lady? You’re so young, why don’t you think about working to earn food for yourself? Why do you casually ask others for things without putting in any effort? This habit of getting something for nothing is not good.

“Go away, don’t block my yard, I still have things to do!”

The old lady said, shooing Li Lijuan away.

But Li Lijuan bit her lip, unwilling to leave like this.

Glancing around the yard, seeing that there didn’t seem to be anyone else besides the old lady, Li Lijuan grabbed the cloth bag on the ground, which contained unshelled corn kernels, and ran towards the outside of the yard.

When the old lady saw this, she was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted and chased after Li Lijuan, grabbing hold of Li Lijuan’s clothes to prevent her from leaving.

“What are you doing, girl? Why are you trying to steal my food? Give it back to me right away!”

However, Li Lijuan furrowed her brows, pushed the old lady away, and muttered, “Old hag, get out of the way.”

The old lady was pushed and fell to the ground, unable to get up due to the pain.

Meanwhile, Li Lijuan quickly fled the old lady’s yard with the food.

Now that she had gotten this food, she could go back and show off in front of Zhao Xiulan.

She had no choice but to resort to robbery, otherwise, she probably wouldn’t have been able to beg for any food until dark.

The old lady hurriedly shouted at the top of her lungs, “Oh dear, thief, thief, someone is stealing things!”

With this shout, the neighbours quickly rushed out and soon blocked Li Lijuan’s way, catching her red-handed.

In this era, the people were relatively simple-minded, and theft was rare. Li Lijuan’s behaviour not only violated the law but was also morally condemned.

Caught by the crowd, Li Lijuan was beaten severely. After the beating, the old lady’s family members were not willing to let it go.

A girl from a family should be well-behaved, not bullying the elderly and stealing things. She needed to be criticised and educated, and her parents needed to be talked to.

At this moment, Zhao Xiulan and her family had just finished their work and returned home, only to find that Li Lijuan hadn’t come back yet.

Ma Yumei had been anxiously looking around, glancing towards the road, but she didn’t see Li Lijuan’s figure.

Ma Yumei anxiously muttered, “Oh, could something have happened to Lijuan?”

Li Lijuan was her only daughter, even though she was just a girl, she was her own flesh and blood, so she couldn’t help but worry.

Seeing this situation, Zhao Weiguo also frowned in worry, “Yes, Xiulan always comes back early after begging for food, but now it’s this late, why hasn’t Lijuan come back?”

“Oh, what should we do…” Ma Yumei was so anxious that she stomped her feet.

Zhao Weiguo comforted her, “Let’s wait a little longer, Lijuan is not a child anymore, if something happens, she will handle it herself.”

Just as they finished speaking at home and hadn’t waited for two minutes, Li Lijuan came back, but she was accompanied by three big and tall men.

The three men were escorting Li Lijuan, their faces all grim. Li Lijuan had quite a few injuries on her face, her hair was a mess, and her clothes were torn. She looked very disheveled.

Seeing Li Lijuan like this, and seeing the three men who came with her, Ma Yumei immediately concluded that these men had bullied Li Lijuan. She angrily approached and scolded, “Who are you? How dare you bully my daughter?”

(End of Chapter 57)